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Genetic Architecture of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) Risk in Mexican Americans.

ABSTRACT: Hispanics of Mexican American descent in South Texas show a very high prevalence of MASLD, with some studies reporting rates as high as 50% in adults. However, assessment of genetic risk factors underlying this prevalence is complicated by a high co-occurrence of other metabolic disorders and variable endogenous and exogenous environmental risk factors. To map the genetic architecture of MASLD hepatic steatosis risk, we conducted an epidemiological-scale investigation using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived hepatocyte cultures from 193 participants in our longitudinal South Texas Family Study (STFS). iPSC-based models offer greater power to map genetic risk factors by experimentally controlling for confounding organismal and environmental factors. We combined transcriptome-wide gene expression analysis with high-content cellular measurements of neutral lipids to define a core hepatic steatosis MASLD phenotype at baseline (vehicle-treated) and following a lipid challenge. The additive genetic heritability of hepatic steatosis measures was 0.44 (p-value = 0.03) at baseline and 0.42 (p-value = 0.03) at post-lipid-challenge. Multivariable linear regression comparing each gene’s expression against hepatic steatosis measures identified 1,070 genes at baseline and 1,229 genes post-lipid challenge, whose expression showed a transcriptome-wide statistically significant association (standardized |β| ≥ 0.24; Bonferroni-corrected p-value ≤ 0.001) with baseline and post-lipid challenge hepatic steatosis measures, respectively. Functional annotation and pathway enrichment analyses of these genes implicated a broad range of hepatocellular functions, mapping an overall genetic architecture of MASLD-associated steatosis risk in Mexican Americans. The genes whose expression was positively correlated with hepatic steatosis measures suggest a direct role of variation in fatty acid (FA) and cholesterol uptake, de novo lipogenesis (DNL), and carbohydrate shunts in hepatic steatosis risk, as well as a cellular stress-associated and high-turnover metabolic state marked by elevated FA-oxidation and ketogenesis. In contrast, the genes whose expression was inversely correlated with hepatic steatosis measures suggest a significant role of the cellular cytoskeleton, hepatocyte epithelial integrity, and endosomal and autophagic clearance machinery in steatosis risk.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE342568 | GEO | 2026/09/17

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Background Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a major cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality. Premenopausal women have a lower MASLD risk than postmenopausal women. G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER1) exerts hepatic protective effects, and GPER1 specific agonist (G1) has shown preclinical potential in improving metabolic disorders. However, clinical studies on G1’s metabolic benefits and GPER1’s clinical relevance in human liver tissue remain unclear. This study aims to bridge basic and clinical research by validating G1’s efficacy in ameliorating MASLD-related hepatic steatosis, exploring its molecular mechanisms, and clarifying GPER1’s association with human MASLD. Methods We investigated the expression of GPER1 in human liver tissue and its correlation with the severity of steatosis. The function of GPER1 was validated both in vitro (using a free fatty acid-induced hepatocyte steatosis model treated with the GPER1 agonist G1 or antagonist G15) and in vivo, with assessments of lipid metabolism-related genes, reactive oxygen species, and apoptosis. GPER1-associated proteins were identified through proteomic sequencing and co-immunoprecipitation. Results GPER1 is lowly expressed in MASLD patients, negatively correlating with steatosis severity. G1 upregulates GPER1, alleviates hepatocyte steatosis and lipid deposition, modulates lipid metabolism-related proteins, ameliorates hepatic steatosis, and interacts with GAIP-interacting protein C-terminal 1 (GIPC1). G15 antagonizes these beneficial effects. Conclusions Based on clinical data, this study shows that low GPER1 expression correlates closely with hepatic steatosis in MASLD. The GPER1 agonist G1 ameliorates hepatic steatosis via multiple GPER1-dependent mechanisms, including regulating lipid metabolism, suppressing oxidative stress, and reducing apoptosis. Notably, GIPC1 may be involved in the GPER1-mediated regulatory pathway, and its role in this context merits further investigation.

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Genetic Architecture of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) Risk in Mexican Americans.

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